The FCC has fined Gabriel Dorcely of Orange Park, Florida $10,000 for operating a radio station without authorization. Tamp field agents used “electronic direction-finding techniques” to trace the source of illegal transmissions on 103.9 MHz in 2002. They found his antenna on the roof of a building and noted that antenna cable ran into an office on Adams Street in Jacksonville. According to the commission’s report, the field agents determined the station’s field strength was more than 3,000 times greater than allowed for unlicensed low-power FMs.
The agents went into the office, saw the FM transmitting equipment and said Dorcely admitted he was operating the station. He said he had applied for an LPFM and was “just testing” the station before he received authorization. There was no open LPFM filing window when this occurred, so Dorcely then said he would wait until there was one.
In the meantime, the commission fined him. It rejects his argument that he was testing the equipment. He knew a license was required for an LPFM and chose to operate a station without one, stated the FCC in its order stating Dorcely is responsible for paying a $10,000 penalty.
FCC Fines Hopeful LPFM Operator $10,000
FCC Fines Hopeful LPFM Operator $10,000
